The avant-garde festival returns completely reimagined, with every stage redesigned, the whole event under one roof, and more than 100 acts spread across three days.
When we talk about electronic music in Barcelona, it is impossible not to think of Sónar. The Catalan festival is an unmissable date for lovers of experimental rhythms and a reference point for DJs across the planet, and this year it arrives with its biggest transformation in recent memory. The 33rd edition lands on 18, 19 and 20 June, and rather than simply refreshing the program, Sónar has rebuilt the entire experience from the ground up.
The headline change is the home itself. In 2026 the whole festival lives under one roof at Fira Gran Via, three days of non-stop music in a single venue, with four stages on Thursday and six on Friday and Saturday, three of them outdoor and three indoor.
Working with cultural architects TWOFIFTYK, the team has reimagined every stage and space, from the sound systems and lighting rigs to the way the crowd moves through the site, all while keeping the quality that has always defined the festival. The best way to understand the new Sónar is to walk through it, stage by stage.
SonarVillage by Estrella Damm: from day to night and back again
Rising on the footprint of the old SonarPub, the new SonarVillage becomes the beating heart of the festival, the biggest open-air stage and the only one running from doors to close on all three days, carrying you from afternoon sun through to the magic of a Barcelona sunrise. The bill is built for that arc: now-unmasked post-dubstep pioneer SBTRKT debuts bold new material, Rush Hour-signed band Arp Frique & The Perpetual Singers bring gospel laced with ’70s cosmic funk, and local icon Undo returns with a new full-band live show, alongside live sets from r&b original Kelis and Sónar favourites Modeselektor and WhoMadeWho. On the decks there is every shade of house, from the melodic, lysergic style of Carlita to the nu-disco of Cormac, the classic New York sound of Kilopatrah Jones and a special CARBS session from Ketiov and Fernanda Arrau, plus the cross-cultural London energy of Arthi and Lady Shaka b2b Tash LC. They join an already stacked roster of Sammy Virji, Chris Stussy, KETTAMA, MK (Marc Kinchen) b2b TSHA and Gerd Janson b2b Marcel Dettmann.
SonarClub: the biggest dancefloor in the world gets an upgrade
SonarClub gets an upgraded sound system, a new lighting rig and fresh visual technology, which is exactly why it has been loaded with the festival’s largest names and stadium-sized AV shows. British rave crew The Prodigy make their long-awaited Sónar debut on Saturday, opened by Sevillan breakbeat producers Ático Corp. and R.I.P. Bestia as UFC. Friday belongs to grime star Skepta, with Manchester-based Basque selector Zuri warming up. Two of the most in-demand DJs in dance music, Sara Landry and Dom Dolla, bring high-impact sets with added AV production, joining the new audiovisual shows from Charlotte de Witte and Amelie Lens, whose AURA concept centres on shadow, light and movement. Rounding things out are Greek hardgroove revivalists ANNĒ & Sera J, Ukrainian techno talent Daria Kolosova, DJ Gigola, Joy Orbison and Funk Tribu.
SonarCar, evolved: Speedy J presents STOOR Live
The circular SonarCar goes back to its roots with a three-day takeover by STOOR Live, the most ambitious version yet of a project that began as a pandemic-era studio experiment from Dutch techno icon Speedy J. The format is simple and singular: fully improvised, hardware-driven sessions that run upwards of six hours, with Speedy J joined by four different performers each night and nothing rehearsed or scripted. Thursday brings Colin Benders, Nadia Struiwigh, Reeko and .VRIL; Friday features FJAAK, KiNK and Nene H; and Saturday closes with Dasha Rush, Luke Slater, Mathew Jonson and Ø [Phase]. Every night is genuinely unrepeatable.
SonarHall: from concert venue to club in minutes
One of the biggest changes this year, SonarHall now shifts from concert hall to club in minutes, with an extended schedule that runs deep into the night, fewer pauses between acts, and late-night takeovers on Friday and Saturday. It remains the place for genre-defying live shows: Daniel Avery appears with a full band performing his alt-rock-inspired latest album, and the AI & Music powered by S+T+ARTS programme opens with Reinier Zonneveld performing live alongside R2, an AI trained on his own music. YHWH Nailgun bring a cathartic blend of dance-punk and noise, UK tricksters Two Shell tease new material, and Catalan artists Ani in the Hall and MERCÈ debut shows inspired by folklore and videogames respectively, alongside cult industrial group Cabaret Voltaire and 30drop’s new AV piece. Between sets, French post-punk connoisseur The Hacker warms up for Cabaret Voltaire while one of Barcelona’s best, Oriana, handles the aftershow. Then the room turns club: Bogotá queer fetish night BULTO curates Friday, and on Saturday the legendary Glitterbox, launched by Defected Records in 2015, takes over with super-producer Mousse T. plus residents Melvo Baptiste and Yasmin.
SonarPark: let’s go outside
SonarPark heads outdoors this year with a bigger dancefloor and a nighttime schedule stretching to 6am at the weekend, the home of global, hyperlocal and hyperconnected club music. Latin America’s growing weight in electronic music is everywhere here, from Colombia’s PETERBLUE and Mexican ‘slut techno’ activist Miss Bashful to Argentinian superproducer TAYHANA b2b MissLupe and Venezuela’s Tedesco, a leading light of latincore. Spanish trap and r&b have rarely felt this creative: Metrika brings a brutally honest voice on sexuality and mental health, joined by Main Costa and GlorySixVain, while Barcelona’s Cutemobb host a multi-MC showcase led by LEÏTI and Catalan artist TAWA pulls from baile funk, rage rap and witch house. Baby Pantera breaks with trap entirely on his trance-leaning album Desidia, and South Korean duo DPR CREAM & DPR ARTIC occupy a world of their own between r&b, hip-hop and UK bass. Also appearing: Boys Noize, Ciara Cuvé, Migal (who scored the Sónar 2026 campaign), DJ AYA, RONI and Alba Franch.
SonarLab: bridging contemporary and classic club culture
The festival’s underground refuge returns with a redesigned floor and lighting built for the most forward-thinking corners of the scene. Friday is dedicated to the UK hardcore continuum, from jungle to bass: Goldie b2b Doc Scott ft Medic MC is essential viewing for any drum’n’bass fan, footwork-to-dubstep pioneer Addison Groove explores the full spectrum of UK bass and techno, and Amaliah b2b Pangaea bring fluid, bass-driven post-dubstep, alongside the mysterious CloudCore duo IceMorph and Madrid’s Olivia Babe. Saturday reshapes techno: German ravers FJAAK meet electroclash pioneer Kittin for a collaborative live set, Herrensauna resident SALOME plays spiky acid and electro, Akua channels techno’s ’90s pioneers, and Wata Igarashi returns with another mind-bending live set, joined by DJ MARIA., ISA and Danielle b2b Ryan Elliott.
A festival rethought from top to bottom, turning Barcelona once again into the world capital of music, innovation and creativity this June. All the information is available at sonar.es.
Wether you’re fully committing with the Sónar marathon or you’re willing to taste what’s out there in the many clubs and festivals that open the doors during Barcelona‘s key week, we’ve got something for you.
